Sunday, March 27
Piscataway, N.J.
12 PM
Rutgers University
vs
Ohio State
Photo by: Rich Graessle
No. 3 Men's Lacrosse Plays No. 12 Ohio State Thursday in Big Ten Semifinals
May 03 | Men's Lacrosse
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Conference Tournament game at Maryland to be televised by BTN (8 pm Thusrday)
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 3 Rutgers men's lacrosse will begin postseason play this Thursday night, as the Scarlet Knights will face No. 12 Ohio State in College Park, Maryland. The game pits No. 2 seed RU against the No. 3 seeded Buckeyes, with the winner to face the winner of the Thursday earlier semifinal between 1-seed Maryland and 4-seed Johns Hopkins.
Rutgers finished the regular season with a 12-2 record, posting a new program record in wins. The Scarlet Knights went 4-1 in Big Ten play to earn the No. 2 seed and a bye through the quarterfinals of the tournament. Over the past two seasons in regular season conference play, Rutgers is 0-3 against Maryland but 12-0 against the other four schools (Ohio State, Johns Hopkins, Penn State and Michigan).
Offensively, Rutgers was led by attackmen Ross Scott (36 goals, 12 assists) and Mitch Bartolo (33 goals, 12 assists), while midfielders Ronan Jacoby (30 goals, 9 assists) and Shane Knobloch (26 goals, 12 assists). Brian Cameron posted 26 goals, with RU getting an average of 30.2 goals from their top five point-producers.
On the defensive end, Ethan Rall has set a new RU record with 25 caused turnovers as an elite presence all over the field at LSM. Defenseman Jaryd Jean-Felix tied his career-high with 12 caused turnovers. He has formed a formidable backline trio alongside Bobby Russo and Bryant Boswell.
Rutgers ranks second in the nation in clearing percentage (92.0%) and turnovers (13.36 per game). RU is also in the top-10 in three additional categories, ranking eighth in scoring offense (15.43), scoring margin (4.50) and points per game (23.79).
ALL BIG TEN
RU had three First Team selections: Colin Kirst, Shane Knobloch and Ethan Rall. Three Scarlet Knights were also named to the Second Team: Ronan Jacoby, Jaryd Jean-Felix and Ross Scott. Bobby Russo captured the Big Ten Sportsmanship award.
The six all-conference selections tied last year's program record mark. The three First Team selections were tied for the most First Team selections with last season and 2019. Kirst was the lone goalkeeper on the first team, and Rall, a unanimous selection, the lone long-stick midfielder on the First Team.
WITH A VICTORY
A win for the Scarlet Knights would represent:
- Rutgers' second ever appearance in the Big Ten Tournament Championship game, and first since 2016.
- Rutgers' second ever victory in a Big Ten Tournament semifinal (2016, RU defeated Johns Hopkins).
- Rutgers seventh straight win over Ohio State, improving to 13-3 all-time versus Buckeyes.
- A victory over No. 12 Ohio State would be RU's fourth win over a ranked team this season, previously defeating No. 8/9 Ohio State, No. 10/12 Army and No. 19/20 Loyola.
- RU would improve to 4-2 on the season against ranked teams and 9-5 in the last two seasons against ranked foes.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Rutgers is making its fifth appearance in the Big Ten Tournament since joining the league in 2015. RU is the No. 2 seed for the third time and second straight season. The Scarlet Knights are 1-4 all-time in Big Ten Tournament action, winning its semifinal appearance in 2016 and making the Big Ten Championship game.
2021: No. 6 Johns Hopkins 12, No. 2 Rutgers 10
2019: No. 1 Penn State 18, No. 4 Rutgers 6
2018: No. 1 Maryland 12, No. 4 Rutgers 9
2016: No. 2 Rutgers 14, No. 3 Johns Hopkins 12
2016: No. 1 Maryland 14, No. 2 Rutgers 8
Rutgers will be looking for its first win in the Big Ten Tournament since 2016, In that contest, RU earned a 14-12 victory over the Blue Jays. Zackary Franckowiak, then a true freshman who subsequently left RU for two seasons for a LDS Mission Trip, had his lone career multi-goal game with two scores in that contest and was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team, and remains on the RU roster.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Ohio State, the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, defeated No. 6 Michigan in the Big Ten Quarterfinals last weekend, 16-10. Jackson Reid scored five goals to help OSU improve to 10-4.
Attackman Jack Myers was a first team All-Big Ten selection while freshman defenseman Bobby Van Buren and senior Jackson Reid made the second team. Van Buren was also chosen by the league coaches as the Freshman of the Year. Reid leads the team with 41 goals, while Myers has 31 goals with a team-best 40 assists and 71 points. Skyler Wahlund has a 11.84 goals-against-average and .513 save percentage. Justin Inacio is at 59% at the faceoff 'X', but had his worst game of the season against RU earlier this season, an 0-for-5 performance.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Rutgers is 12-3 in 14 lifetime matchups against Ohio State. The teams first met in 1953, then six times in the 90s prior to becoming Big Ten Conference rivals. RU has won the last six straight and is 6-2 since 2015.
RU is 6-1 against ranked Buckeye teams since joining the league in 2015. RU's first Big Ten win came in 2015 with a 17-10 victory over No. 10 OSU. The win over No. 3 Ohio State in 2017 tied for the highest ranked win in program history. In 2019, RU won 14-6 at No. 4 Ohio State. In 2021, RU defeated OSU twice, with them ranked No. 6 and No. 14 for the meetings. Earlier this season, Rutgers claimed a dominant 18-7 win over No. 8/9 Ohio State, with Ross Scott leading the way with four goals and three assists. Jonathan Dugenio excelled at the faceoff 'X', winning 15-of-26. Colin Kirst made 12 saves while holding OSU to just seven goals.
"It's been a great year so far and I'm very proud of our team and all that we've accomplished so far this season," head coach Brian Brecht said. "These guys have a lot of big game experience with our 27 seniors. The Big Ten is a gauntlet and we'll play a team now for the second time. This is why you put all the hard work in throughout the year, all the workouts, all the preparation is to play big postseason games in May when the weather is nice, and the crowds are large."
The Scarlet Knights will play in the second semifinal, with the contest scheduled for 8 p.m. and a national TV broadcast by Big Ten Network. Pete Medhurst and Mark Dixon will be on the call, while WRSU (88.7 FM, Rutgers Student Radio) will have a radio call locally and online with Chris Tsakonas and Dennis Geissler on the call."We know that Ohio State is a tough team with a lot to prove," junior attackman Ross Scott said. "They're going to come out and give us their best, and we've got to come out with our best. It's going to be a real tough battle. We've been preparing hard every single day. You can't take any game lightly; you have to come in and give it your all. We're coming in with that mentality, one game at a time. We've built some great chemistry and meshed as a team and that's helped us break through this year. We're going to keep building on that and keep getting better."
ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTSRutgers finished the regular season with a 12-2 record, posting a new program record in wins. The Scarlet Knights went 4-1 in Big Ten play to earn the No. 2 seed and a bye through the quarterfinals of the tournament. Over the past two seasons in regular season conference play, Rutgers is 0-3 against Maryland but 12-0 against the other four schools (Ohio State, Johns Hopkins, Penn State and Michigan).
Offensively, Rutgers was led by attackmen Ross Scott (36 goals, 12 assists) and Mitch Bartolo (33 goals, 12 assists), while midfielders Ronan Jacoby (30 goals, 9 assists) and Shane Knobloch (26 goals, 12 assists). Brian Cameron posted 26 goals, with RU getting an average of 30.2 goals from their top five point-producers.
On the defensive end, Ethan Rall has set a new RU record with 25 caused turnovers as an elite presence all over the field at LSM. Defenseman Jaryd Jean-Felix tied his career-high with 12 caused turnovers. He has formed a formidable backline trio alongside Bobby Russo and Bryant Boswell.
Rutgers ranks second in the nation in clearing percentage (92.0%) and turnovers (13.36 per game). RU is also in the top-10 in three additional categories, ranking eighth in scoring offense (15.43), scoring margin (4.50) and points per game (23.79).
ALL BIG TEN
RU had three First Team selections: Colin Kirst, Shane Knobloch and Ethan Rall. Three Scarlet Knights were also named to the Second Team: Ronan Jacoby, Jaryd Jean-Felix and Ross Scott. Bobby Russo captured the Big Ten Sportsmanship award.
The six all-conference selections tied last year's program record mark. The three First Team selections were tied for the most First Team selections with last season and 2019. Kirst was the lone goalkeeper on the first team, and Rall, a unanimous selection, the lone long-stick midfielder on the First Team.
WITH A VICTORY
A win for the Scarlet Knights would represent:
- Rutgers' second ever appearance in the Big Ten Tournament Championship game, and first since 2016.
- Rutgers' second ever victory in a Big Ten Tournament semifinal (2016, RU defeated Johns Hopkins).
- Rutgers seventh straight win over Ohio State, improving to 13-3 all-time versus Buckeyes.
- A victory over No. 12 Ohio State would be RU's fourth win over a ranked team this season, previously defeating No. 8/9 Ohio State, No. 10/12 Army and No. 19/20 Loyola.
- RU would improve to 4-2 on the season against ranked teams and 9-5 in the last two seasons against ranked foes.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Rutgers is making its fifth appearance in the Big Ten Tournament since joining the league in 2015. RU is the No. 2 seed for the third time and second straight season. The Scarlet Knights are 1-4 all-time in Big Ten Tournament action, winning its semifinal appearance in 2016 and making the Big Ten Championship game.
2021: No. 6 Johns Hopkins 12, No. 2 Rutgers 10
2019: No. 1 Penn State 18, No. 4 Rutgers 6
2018: No. 1 Maryland 12, No. 4 Rutgers 9
2016: No. 2 Rutgers 14, No. 3 Johns Hopkins 12
2016: No. 1 Maryland 14, No. 2 Rutgers 8
Rutgers will be looking for its first win in the Big Ten Tournament since 2016, In that contest, RU earned a 14-12 victory over the Blue Jays. Zackary Franckowiak, then a true freshman who subsequently left RU for two seasons for a LDS Mission Trip, had his lone career multi-goal game with two scores in that contest and was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team, and remains on the RU roster.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Ohio State, the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, defeated No. 6 Michigan in the Big Ten Quarterfinals last weekend, 16-10. Jackson Reid scored five goals to help OSU improve to 10-4.
Attackman Jack Myers was a first team All-Big Ten selection while freshman defenseman Bobby Van Buren and senior Jackson Reid made the second team. Van Buren was also chosen by the league coaches as the Freshman of the Year. Reid leads the team with 41 goals, while Myers has 31 goals with a team-best 40 assists and 71 points. Skyler Wahlund has a 11.84 goals-against-average and .513 save percentage. Justin Inacio is at 59% at the faceoff 'X', but had his worst game of the season against RU earlier this season, an 0-for-5 performance.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Rutgers is 12-3 in 14 lifetime matchups against Ohio State. The teams first met in 1953, then six times in the 90s prior to becoming Big Ten Conference rivals. RU has won the last six straight and is 6-2 since 2015.
RU is 6-1 against ranked Buckeye teams since joining the league in 2015. RU's first Big Ten win came in 2015 with a 17-10 victory over No. 10 OSU. The win over No. 3 Ohio State in 2017 tied for the highest ranked win in program history. In 2019, RU won 14-6 at No. 4 Ohio State. In 2021, RU defeated OSU twice, with them ranked No. 6 and No. 14 for the meetings. Earlier this season, Rutgers claimed a dominant 18-7 win over No. 8/9 Ohio State, with Ross Scott leading the way with four goals and three assists. Jonathan Dugenio excelled at the faceoff 'X', winning 15-of-26. Colin Kirst made 12 saves while holding OSU to just seven goals.
What a year!@BruceBeck4NY sat down with @RUlaxCoach Brian Brecht to discuss @RUmlax's historic season and expectations for May. #GoRU pic.twitter.com/m9XH0HrBDC
— Rutgers Scarlet Knights (@RUAthletics) April 29, 2022
Ready to bring the NASCAR to College Park! #RUMLax is revving the engines and heading down to Maryland for the @B1GLacrosse Tournament pic.twitter.com/3Tf3yRcjmc
— Rutgers Men's LAX (@RUmlax) May 4, 2022
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